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President's Message

Fellow Rotarians,

One of the best perks of being President is the view. I get to see what happens front and center, and I also get a peek at all the behind-the-scenes work that makes this club run. (I'd call it the view from my seat, but anyone who's watched me at a meeting knows I rarely sit down.) What I see from here is a remarkable group of people, and this week I just want to say so.

This club has heart. When a member is facing a health challenge, we show up. When a member hits a big milestone, we celebrate loudly. When someone wants to start something new, we line up behind them.

This club has brains. We look at an issue from every angle, and we ask what our decisions today will mean for our members and our community next year and for years after that.

This club has persistence. Following through on Service Above Self isn't always smooth, and things come up all the time. We find a way around them and keep going.

And this club has agility. We know when the smart move is to change direction.

That last one has come up a lot this year. I've jokingly started calling it the Pivot Presidency, and HomeStretch is a perfect example of why. We started the year with a request from HomeStretch to expand the Learning Lab and give the families in their program more room for counseling sessions, group meetings, and tutoring for the kids. We got right to work. We pulled resources together, met with the City, and drew up plans.

Then HomeStretch came back with a bigger vision: a more cohesive, well-planned community on Millbrook. That means a sturdy shelter at the entrance so kids aren't standing in the weather waiting for the bus. It means a real community center that can do everything the Learning Lab expansion was meant to do, and do it permanently. And it means renovating housing units that haven't had a full rehab in decades.

I can get behind a vision like that, and I'm so glad we pivoted with them.

Roswell Rotary is now helping shape that vision into a full plan for the community, one that improves the landscape, supports programming, and updates living spaces. It may include shared spaces like a nature path and an outdoor classroom. We won't build it all on our own, and we don't need to. What we can do is help define the vision and then take on the right-sized pieces that we can actually deliver. Sometimes the pivot turns out bigger than the original plan, and this is one of those times.

I'm grateful to lead a club this rich in resources of every kind. Some of them still surprise me, and others get better the more I understand them. Thank you for being that kind of club.

I hope you'll join me in embracing the power of the pivot and in building this partnership with an organization committed to housing security in our community.

Together in service,

Leslie

Posted by Leslie Bassett
November 3, 2026

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